Gamethread: White Sox at Twins
Can Garrett Crochet break Chicago’s five-game losing streak?
Hey, White Sox fans! It’s Hump Day which brings with it another round of shoddy White Sox baseball. Tonight, the South Siders look to break their five-game losing streak, taking on their AL Central foes, the Minnesota Twins. Can the White Sox capture their fourth win? Will they blow another late lead? Can Andrew Benintendi actually catch a ball? Will Danny Mendick be the team’s 2024 All-Star? There are so many questions that likely have very unfavorable answers. But you never know. That’s why they play the games, folks.
Garrett Crochet gets the ball this evening for Chicago. The big southpaw started the season strong with three incredible outings, but his last two starts have been, well, terrible. The Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies absolutely destroyed him for a total of 12 runs over 7 2⁄3 innings. Were these just poor performances against good teams? Were the first three games all flukes? Or is it just a little bit of both? Only a bigger sample size will help us draw an accurate conclusion, so if you want to know, unfortunately, you have to watch, and wait. Or you can just come back here and read about it. We all shouldn’t have to suffer through it.
Historically though, the lefty has had pretty good success against the Twins’ current hitters. You love to see that sky-high 57.1 K% and 34.8 Whiff%.
For the home team, the Twinkies send Joe Ryan to the bump. Ryan is 0-1 with a 3.57 ERA and 1.06 WHIP over 22 2⁄3 innings this season. On paper, the Sox match up pretty well against the righthander, especially Mr. Big Bucks Benintendi. Maybe a little Joe Ryan is all he needs to break out of whatever mental fog he’s been in lately. Ryan will attack the South Siders with five pitches, including a four-seamer, split-finger, sweeper, slider, and sinker.
On the offensive (and boy, is it ever offensive) end, here’s how Pedro Grifol lines them up tonight:
Game 3 in Minnesota on deck pic.twitter.com/13Pz7o9dIM
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 24, 2024
And for the Twins:
Hey. Say it back. pic.twitter.com/1qlJtnOmdE
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 24, 2024
The first pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. CST. Watch the broadcast on NBCSCH or listen in on ESPN 1000.